Eddie Wheel Connection Issue

jjbravo

Hi,
I've got a new Eddie and have some issues.

First, why is there no detailed instructions on how to connect the Wheel controllers? Neither the manual nor the assembly video shows how to connect the cables.
There are three possibilities on each controller, which ones do I connect??!

The only reference in the assembly manual is:
"Connect the three-pin cable from the right Position Controller to Pin-set 11 in the “Encoders” section of
the Control Board. The black wire should be on the outer-most pin of the three-pin header."

What is the "Encoders" sections? Sorry, but I don't get how the wheels are connected.
I tried to guess, but the Robot Dashboard will not run with an error, so I assume I did it wrong.

Also having issues with RDS4 as I installed Kinect SDK 1.5 - I guess RDS4 does not support that. I had to uninstall and install 1.0. Would have been nice to know, but maybe that's a MS issue.

Hopefully I'm not the only one with this issue.

Edit: Found this post http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?137253-Eddie-Encoder-issue I'll try checking my settings.

Matt Gilliland

Hey jjbravo -
Welcome to the Forums!

How's it coming? Do you still need help?

-MattG

jjbravo

Thanks Matt,
yes I do in fact. I accidently posted in the general forum, probably should have posted here, but I don't have a way to move my post.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?141281-Error-receiving-reading-speed-values-from-FW

JJ

richchapler

I'm struggling with the same questions. Also looking for a simple "Hello World" sample code (no bells and whistles) to prove that I've got the wiring set up correctly.

Matt Gilliland

Hi richchapler- welcome to the Forums! :-)

Did you take a look at the product doc here? Specifically pages 8-10. I don't think we have a "hello world" sample for this controller, but I could be wrong. We are just about to release a new encoder (waiting for documentation to finish it up). It's a much simpler type of quadrature encoder that will certainly have a "hello world" sample soon.

I'll post it here as soon as it's finished.
-MattG

TLC

Generation Robots had some good Eddie decoder troubleshooting tips:

http://www.generationrobots.com/encodeurs-eddie,us,8,80.cfm

Todd

richchapler

Thanks so much for the replies... I did get the wheels moving with the "ignore encoder errors" firmware update and commands past via the Serial Terminal.

I'm currently struggling with getting VPL to connect to the hardware (works in simulator, but fails to connect). I think that I read that there was a code modification for the manifest, but eager for any tips.

TLC

You can use the Manifest Editor to create your own manifest. What I did was take the Eddie Manifest and using the Microsoft XML Editor software (free for download) removed the portions that I was not interested in. For me, it was the control panel and the Kinect (I wrote my own Kinect service and add that to my own manifest). I have a "generic" manifest on my skydrive (https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=941a5cafb62687b4&resid=941A5CAFB62687B4!127&id=941A5CAFB62687B4%21127#cid=941A5CAFB62687B4&id=941A5CAFB62687B4%21143) . I really encourage you to use the Manifest Editor to create your own manifest as that really helps you understand how it all works.

Try the generic manifest using VPL and see if it works. I also have a couple of examples on my blog that have manifests included (roboticsathome.wordpress.com). that may help you.

Todd